Obtaining and Maintaining Peak Fitness

Peak Fitness

The term peak fitness is usually associated with athletes, however it can also apply to non-athletes. If a person strives to reach peak fitness they must realize that this level can vary drastically from person to person. Regardless of your current fitness level and your personal peak fitness level, the basic steps needed to meet your goals are the same. To reach peak fitness and/or to improve your fitness you need three types of exercises: cardiovascular or aerobic exercise, strength training and flexibility or stretching exercises. All three exercises are needed for a balanced fitness program.

The basic components of a fitness program are the same for everyone regardless of the type of sport you specialize in or if you are preparing for a major sporting event. Although the components are the same to ensure overall fitness, there will be differences between programs to specialize in certain muscle areas, the level of exercise intensity, exercise duration and exercise frequency. These factors will vary depending upon your goals, your current fitness level and personal preference. Designing an effective program to achieve peak fitness often requires professional guidance, from a personal fitness trainer.

Obtaining and maintaining peak fitness is not usually attempted by non-athletes because of the time and commitment required. Peak fitness requires determination and a lot of work. First you need an effective exercise plan, then you need to monitor results and tweak the fitness plan on a regular basis. Exercise programs are more effective initially and then you body adjusts to the exercise and you reach a plateau. In order to obtain additional results, new exercises or changes in intensity or exercise duration are usually needed. There are many ways to adjust an exercise program so that you can break through the plateau, begin seeing results again and move closer to your peak fitness level. Personal fitness trainers and coaches can make this process easier since they know the most effective methods of adjusting your fitness routine to deliver results. Some people reach a plateau and mistakenly think they have reached their peak fitness level.

Peak Fitness Strength Training

To effectively strength train for peak fitness you do not need to build bulky muscles or look like a body builder. Successful strength training will include all major muscle groups and also target specific areas used in your sport or activity. For example, a peak fitness program for a swimmer will differ from that of a tennis player. Your strength training should work with, not against, your main activity to achieve peak fitness.

The strength training portion of you routine may involve using weight machines, free weights or other types of resistance training. Push-ups are an example of a resistance training exercise that does not require the use of weights or other fitness equipment. The amount of resistance used, the types of exercises, the number of repetitions and the number of sets will vary depending upon your specific goals.

Peak Fitness Aerobic Training

The key to achieving your peak cardiovascular fitness level, often involves the quality of the exercises and not the quantity. You need to constantly adjust the intensity of your aerobic workout if you want to reach your peak fitness level. You can include segments of high intensity work in the middle of your cardiovascular exercises, to enhance results without increasing total exercise time. For example, after a ten minute easy warm up you can do two minutes at an 85-90% effort, then slow back down for a minute to allow your heart rate to settle down. Repeat for ten minutes, and then finish with a ten minute cool down. When this pattern becomes easier for you, increase the amount of time you’re exercising at a higher intensity, or decrease the time you’re resting in between. You’ll need to change the intensity of your workouts every four to six weeks to maintain your personal level of peak fitness. Most gyms also have cardiovascular equipment that you can program to provide a random workout, which will add variety to your workout automatically.

Peak Fitness Flexibility Training

Flexibility training will give your body the ability to perform more efficiently as an athlete and is good for overall fitness and increased mobility. Increased flexibility minimizes the risk of injury and also helps the body to recover faster from strenuous training and exercise. Flexibility training keeps your muscles and joints loose and can prevent or alleviate cramping. At a minimum you, should stretch for at least ten minutes after each strength training or cardiovascular exercise session. Some people prefer to stretch after each specific exercise while they are resting between exercises. This can also be effective and is a productive way to utilize waiting time.

Whether you’re a professional athlete, sports enthusiast or working to improve overall fitness you need a fitness program that includes the 3 main exercise components: strength training, aerobic training and flexibility training. Everyone is capable of reaching their peak fitness level if they are willing to do the work, make the commitment and modify their fitness program to enhance results.

Peak Fitness - Fitness Plan for Beginners

Why To Choose Healthy Lifestyle?

You will feel better today and tomorrow. Changing your negative habits into good, healthy ones today can give you a more positive outlook on life and keep you feeling good for years to come. It doesn’t matter how young or old you are, changing to a healthy lifestyle at any age will add a few extra years onto your life.

Tired of sitting on the couch watching endless re-runs on television? Feeling too lazy to get off the couch? Your television habits are actually causing you to be lazier. Television itself isn’t’ bad, using it to pass the time away is. Instead, record the shows you really like and watch them as a reward for doing something healthier. Better yet, do some sort of physical activity while you watch the shows; at the very least during the commercials.

A healthy lifestyle can strengthen your immune system and keep you feeling in tip top shape. You will start to feel better about yourself and your self-esteem will grow. A healthy lifestyle gives you more energy and the motivation to tackle that to do list instead of merely adding to it each day. As you cross items off the list, you feel proud of yourself and accomplished.

Developing a healthy lifestyle will keep you from dragging through each day. Monday won’t seem so bad and you won’t be falling asleep after lunch. Adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet, and getting rid of processed foods, will help increase energy throughout the day. You will skip through the door after work instead of crawling through it. Your family will benefit because you will have energy to give to them.

Choosing a healthy lifestyle is always a positive choice. It will make you feel better today and more healthy for years to come.

Why Mediterranean Lifestyle Is Considered As a Healthy One?

Research shows that people who live the Mediterranean lifestyle are some of the healthiest people alive. They also seem to live long, happy lives. What is it about their life that makes it such a healthy lifestyle? It is the food they eat and they overall outlook on life that they have. It is the way they have learned balance between work and play. All the things we should learn and put into practice, so we may live longer more fulfilling lives.

The Mediterranean lifestyle consists of a healthy diet. The area around the Mediterranean Sea is rich with olives, grapes, and various other fruits and vegetables, so their diets are also rich in produce. Being close to the sea, the diets also include plenty of fish which is high in Omega-3 fatty acids. Olives are abundant in the Mediterranean and almost every dish is cooked in Olive Oil which is healthier than animal fat or vegetable oils.

The Mediterranean lifestyle is about balance; balancing work, family, and time for you. They take the time to relax and spend time with family and friends. Meals are meant to be enjoyed, not rushed through. The family sits down to a large meal, relaxes, and talks to each other. They don’t rush through dinner in front of the television like most other countries tend to. They know when to work and when to play and they can balance between both worlds.

There are so many things to see and do along the Mediterranean and the people are active. They walk, bike, garden, and play. Adding just an hour of activity a day can increase your healthy lifestyle a lot.

Adopting the Mediterranean lifestyle as our own can extend our lives, make us happy, and help create an overall healthy lifestyle.

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)

Google AdSense Host API

This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

Facebook Login

You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

Maven

This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)

We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.

Conversion Tracking Pixels

We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.

Statistics

Author Google Analytics

This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)

Comscore

ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)

Amazon Tracking Pixel

Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)